Bunly Meas

While Brother number 2, Noun Chea, is on trial in Phnom Penh, I had a chance to travel 600 kilometers to see his bigger brother's court room. It was exactly here more than ten years ago where Pol Pot was sitting and listening to a court's sentence on his guilt. Now the wooden room has gone and left only a few pillars standing to welcome visitors. It seems abandoned even by its villagers. A guiding billboard with "Pol Pot was sentenced here" text might remind passers-by but it could not compete with the losing interest of the locals. Though, it is still useful for outsiders, for example, like me. Right next to the site, there is a small market and a Cambodian-Thai border checkpoint just a several meters away. I could observe from the location why Khmer Rouge related matters are buried and forgotten here. It is all about business and livelihoods. People tend to care more about the conflict between Cambodia and Thailand and the current ...

A street vender in Kompong Cham today asked me to try this special dish. "Brother one of these snakes will fit well with a can of beer," she suggested. I was not convinced as snakes are always my scary creatures. They do not look delicious although they were cooked with promising ingredient. "No thanks, just looking," I replied and left. Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4

Last week, I was in Kratie province. What shocked me was the scene of a burnt market. It was the place I usually had meals any time I came here. But now it's gone! Local people told me it happened during midnight, and almost all stores were burnt into dust. Some people I saw were crying, but some were laughing as their hurt was too much to say! There was not much to see except smoke. So I decided to leave and let other visitors experience this sad view. Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.0

Then I headed to Kratie, another province stands by the Mekong River. It was a five-hour drive from Preah Vihear, and the journey was not really bad. I was accompanied with jokes and fun from my colleagues in the same car. And what really blocked my ears and isolated all my senses from the surrounding environment was my little pink mp3 player. It saved me from boredom and tiredness. When I arrived in Kratie, it was just another new page of painting flipping just in front my eyes through the car's windows. From a very dried and warm Preah Vihear province, now I encountered a landscape filled with green leaves and wet ground. That was a very sweet welcoming scene that made me stuck to complain about the long drive. The Mekong river contains its lowest water during this month, but this does not mean that everything around it should be quiet. The river bank was full of people jogging, selling varieties of fruit and food, eating, and chatting. (but I did not notice people smoking). ...

It was exactly one month last week when the border conflict erupted in Preah Vihear province. The situation is very calm now. People, who fled their homes during the conflict, are back and continue their businesses as usual. Though, the conflict is still the hottest topic of everyday conversations. But for me, it is not my visit's interest. I was there neither to visit the temple nor to find out what was going on. My purpose was to see my on-going environmental project's activities, helping farmers to adapt to climate change impact. It was my first time to actually be in the field and met project staff and farmers, who my every work is aimed for. I had a very good opportunity to learn from them and especially to see all beautiful sites. Below are some of the photos from the visit and check more here . This is one of the typical farmers' houses in rural Cambodia and notably they are renovated when people's incomes are increased.     A very convenient and c...

It has been a month since I started my work in a climate change project. I am not working as a climate change specialist but still a communication guy. Though, working in this project is my good chance to learn about this topic as the world is worrying about the global warming! Early this month, I had a chance to meet project staff from the fields of the two targeted provinces, Kratie and Preah Vihea. Those are the people who work directly with farmers and make results. I learnt a lot of their experiences through personal conversations. For privacy reasons, I will not show their photos here. But I still have some nice views of Kompong Cham, where I met them. (More photos, please see the photo section ) Waiting for the sunset or a boat? The bridge is for my cows too! Don't worry! We have the patrolling boats too!

Now Cambodians and Thais could cross each other's borders without visa. They could stay as tourists up to two weeks, and all they need are simply their passports. Just a week before the new agreement implemented, I had a chance to experience the border crossing without using my passport (I confessed I forgot at home) but ID card. The purpose was just to shop at the Cambodian-Thai friendship market located in Thailand. I had two options, one was to go for a Border Pass that allows me to stay in Thailand for a week and get it revalidated every week. The second choice was to get an Immigration Card that grants me rights to wander around the border market up to 8 p.m. I went for the second one as it fit with my plan. Instead of standing in the queue, I could sit. But my turn was not guaranteed. The card making process was simple: waiting, taking a photo, showing ID card, paying fee, and waiting again. It was not long, just around five minutes, but waiting in the queue before ...